What to eat in Bad Gastein

The picturesque Austrian hillside travel destination Bad Gastein offers lots of culinary delights that reflect Austria's rich history. Austrian food offers a rich collection of the gastronomic delights offered by member nations of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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What to eat in Bad Gastein

Not fully German nor fully Hungarian, Austrian food is a veritable melting pot of different taste accents.

Austrian dishes are influenced by Italian, German, Hungarian, Bohemian, and Balkan cuisines. Thoroughly cosmopolitan as befits the hub of a former empire that straddled a decent chunk of Europe. When deciding what to eat in Bad Gastein, always shoot for a cosmopolitan sampling of the many dishes that make the Austrian menu so interesting. Don’t just eat German or Italian food, check out the wide array of regional tastes that truly make Austrian food distinctly Austrian.

Rich meat dishes

If you are staying in Bad Gastein during the autumn, you’re in luck since this is when many eateries offer wild game on the menu. You might want to try wild boar meat stew for a distinctly Austrian mountain cuisine taste.

If you like soups, try Tafelspitz and Rindsuppe. For a rich hotpot dish, you can’t go wrong with the Hungarian-derived gulasch. Selchfleisch is also a great dish to order at an Austrian restaurant. There is just something distinctly Austrian about this smoked dish when it is served with dumplings and sauerkraut.

If you are a bit adventurous, you should try Bad Gastein’s game-based dishes. That’s game, as in different kinds of deer, ducks, rabbits, and partridges.When looking for something to eat in Bad Gastein, you should also leave some space for ‘curiosity’ cuisine even though you might not be a big game eater.

Austrian Sweet Tooth

In addition to Austrian cuisine’s focus on meat and game dishes, the Bad Gastein valley is also known for pastries and cakes. After all, just like with the rest of Austrian cuisine, there is a distinct Austrian sweet tooth that ensures many Bad Gastein residents and visitors alike try something sweet after an otherwise meat-heavy meal.

At the top of the list of desserts to eat in Bad Gastein is the Sachetorte. If you love apricots, you’ll fall head over heels in love with this apricot jam-laced chocolate cake. The chocolate definitely brings to mind the famous German processing of chocolate. Other great sweet Austrian dishes to enjoy in Bad Gastein include the cake crumb filled Punschkrapfen cake, the famous Apfelstrudel, and the cheese filled Topfen.